


like moths upon old scarves

by dogbuns



Category: Adventure Time
Genre: Bubbline, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, simon & marcy, this seemed like a good fic to start with
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2016-07-18
Packaged: 2018-07-24 18:44:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7519144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dogbuns/pseuds/dogbuns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's summertime again in Ooo, and for the first time in nearly a thousand years, that means it's time for a little treasure hunting.</p><p>Features bad dad jokes and dead rats.</p>
            </blockquote>





	like moths upon old scarves

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic (ever, if I remember correctly)! I mostly work in comics, so I've never really tried a story in full prose, so we'll see how this goes! 
> 
> Title is a line from Northern Downpour by Panic!, cause I've been associating Simon and Marcy with that song for years.

There were birds chirping in the long distance. A soft, upbeat melody lingered through the air as the two waded through

 

_their feet landed on_

 

_soft grass?_

 

_it's not possible_

 

_it's not_

 

Marceline hummed a little tune as they made their way through a large clearing, just a little ways off from the Candy Kingdom. She smiled and tried to pick up the pace, a spaced-out old man in tow.

His feet clumsily made their way around the large pieces of debris  that littered the path. Most of Ooo had been reformed through the years, though a few places remained the same, where no Ooo-lians dared venture through. A thick layer of dust coated every surface, and you could almost taste the ashes lingering in the air.

It brought back sweet nostalgia for the vampire queen, albeit the mood being slightly ruined by having to take a giant umbrella along wherever she went.

For the old man, however, it was bringing back long-lost memories that violently surged through his mind. It was almost like

 

_it's like_

 

_he's really here_

 

_but nothing's quite right_

 

_the air is clean, why is the air clean, why are there birds why are things alive_

 

_why was **he** still alive he shouldn't be here he should be DEAD he shouldn't be here Marcy deserves better Marcy doesn't deserve his slowly slipping sanity she--_

 

"Simon? You okay?"

The familiar voice snapped him out of his daze. His hands made his way to his face as he adjusted his glasses. 

 

 _his hands w_ e _ren't blue?_

 

_he was okay he was safe the war was over and he was free and--_

 

"Y-Yeah!" he chirped, shaking off the last of the vivid memories.

Marceline raised an eyebrow. Simon gave a small smile in return, trying his best to collect himself. She didn't buy it.

"Y'know, if this is too much for you, we can always do this another time--"

"No! I'm fine, Marcy. Really!" he grinned. "Besides, it's not every day we get to do this."

She nodded. Simon had been pretty busy since the curse was broken. Every day someone had always seemed to have something planned with him- be it re-planning his wedding with Betty, looking over artifacts with Bonnibel, going around apologizing to princesses with Finn and Jake- complete with muffin baskets Jake had managed to put together- there always seemed to be somewhere to be, or something important to finish.

Not that Marceline wasn't important to him, but quiet days of treasure hunting and writing songs weren't exactly on the top of his agenda. It had only been a week since he'd come back, after all.

He'd nearly bumped into Marceline as she abruptly stopped in her tracks. "This is it!" she piped up. "This is the place we found the chicken soup, remember? I was just telling you the story the other day..." Her words quieted down to a small mumble as she grinned from ear to ear, taking in the surroundings. Everything felt so familiar, as if they'd only been here yesterday. 

Simon's heart sank in his chest. He remembered this place, he remembered his head spinning as he 

 

_his mind raced as he felt the crown taking over_

 

_ice and snow shot out of his trembling fingertips, everything was COLD everything was slipping away from him_

 

_and he wasn't_

 

_he wasn't_

 

"Look!" Marceline said. "Here's the pillow you beat the shit outta those zombies with! Oh dang, when they said they left some places preserved, they weren't kidding!"

He smiled at that. Marceline floated over to take a seat atop the old car, the pillow on her lap as she set down their spoils for the day. Out of her bag she pulled out a few old books, an old movie in a DVD case, a broken little teddy bear, and a dead rat.

They spent the entire morning together, running through broken down buildings and piles of junk. He didn't believe PB when she mentioned that people never bothered to go through abandoned places like this-- as everything looked almost the same, he could tell that a lot of others- probably scavengers- had gone through, taking everything remotely valuable in sight. All that seemed to remain were old wrappers and empty boxes.

Simon's face scrunched up as he took a seat beside her. "I thought we were gonna leave the dead rat."

"Yeah, but I thought he'd make a pretty good pet!"

"Eugh!"

"Hey, I'm old enough to make my own decisions, old man," she chuckled. "And I'm keepin' this dead rat if you're keepin' that creepy DVD."

"It's not creepy! I'll have you know that the Bee Movie shaped our entire generation."

She rolled her eyes. "If you say so. But you gotta watch it with me sometime."

"Deal."

He laughed as he pulled his own bag off his shoulders. Marceline frowned as he began to unpack their lunch.

"I thought we were gonna go treasure hunting ALL day!" she whined. "C'mon man, it's barely even lunch time and we've barely got any goods. Finn and Jake will NOT be impressed by a dead rat and a couple of rotting history books."

"Oh they're gonna love the movie, trust me."

She nudged his shoulder and pouted. Simon rolled his eyes.

"C'mon, man! I'm still up and ready to go!"

"Hi, up and ready to go, I'm Si--"

He got a punch in the shoulder for that. It was worth it, though.

"Marcy, I'm an old man! Look at my old man hands." He wiggled his fingers in front of her face. "I can't run around forever like we used to."

That got a laugh out of her. "Fine," she said, grabbing all the apples that tumbled out of his paper bag.

"Besides Marcy, I was hoping we could take some time and catch up on things. I mean, it's only been about a thousand years."

"Pff, alright. But what do you wanna know, anyway?" Her eyes shifted around nervously. "I've been hanging around with Ice K- you for a while, and you've pretty much remembered everything by now, right?"

"Right, but you did spend a few hundred years avoiding me." he smirked.

Marceline bit her lip and lowered her eyes to the ground. She had done that, hadn't she?

Simon gave her a gentle nudge on the shoulder to let her know it was alright. "Well, you still haven't told me about that old boyfriend of yours," he smiled.

"Ugh, do you always have to be such a dad?" she laughed. He couldn't help but laugh in return. The wrinkles around his eyes only reminded Marcy more of how old he actually was. "There's nothing you really have to know."

"Do you always have to be so mysterious?" he chuckled.

"Welcome to my twisted mind."

He laughed so hard he'd almost pushed her off the car. 

"Well, there's not much to say about him. He was a major jerk, messing with my memories and junk so I wouldn't get mad at him!"

Simon shuddered. There wasn't anything pretty about your memories being messed with.

"And he sold Hambo to a witch without telling me! All for some dumb magic wand that he definitely wasn't planning to share."

He choked on his sandwich then. "He did what!? Ohh man, next time I see him he's gettin' another nice sock in the face from me."

They both laughed at that. Marceline could still remember the glimmer in his eyes when she told him whose face he'd socked to steal that carpet back in Wizard City.

He remembered that day vividly, everyone crowding around his slowly melting living room, excited to have him back with a million stories to tell and hands to hold and hugs to give. It had been one of the happiest days of his life. Simon never understood why punching Ash was one of the first and most important things they've told him, but now everything was clicking into place and his heart leapt with a small pang of happiness.

"There's not much else after that. Finn and Jake helped me kick his ass, and I haven't really been seeing anyone since then."

"What about Princess Bubblegum?" He raised an eyebrow.

It was Marceline's turn to choke then. "I don't know what you're talking about." There wasn't any way he could've known about that, right? She'd tried her best to keep it on the down low. People finding out about her huge crush was the last thing she needed, especially now that she and Bonnie were on good terms again.

"You can't fool me, Marcy. I've got dad powers. I always know what's up," he winked. Marceline's face turned red as she buried her face in her hands. Simon swung his arms around her shoulder and laughed. "Besides, neither of you are hiding it really well."

"Whaddya mean?"

"That is the _exact_ same look she gave me when I asked her about liking you." he grinned. 

"You did _what_?"

The old man winked. "Don't tell her I told you. I'm sworn to secrecy here. But there're no secrets between us, right?"

"Glob, Simon, I just hope you didn't make a royal promise to her. She'd kick your ass. And that wouldn't be the worst part."

"Relax Marcy, I know what I'm doing!" He patted her shoulder. "And speaking of doing things, you guys need any help planning any dates?"

"Simon!"

"Me and Betty are getting good at this wedding planning thing, you know. I'm sure she'd love to lend a hand too, and you've got my blessing already and everything--"

" _Simon!_ " she laughed, and punched him in the arm, not holding back this time.

"Haha, ow!" He wrapped her in a tight hug. "Alright, but seriously, no more hiding things from me. I'm always here to talk to you about this stuff, y'know. And I missed you."

"Missed you too, you old jerk," she smiled and returned the hug. "I love you, Simon."

He chuckled at that and

 

_and he smiled and_

 

_he felt warm and for a brief moment everything was okay and_

 

_they were safe and he'd won over the crown and the zombies were gone and Marcy was in his arms_

 

_and the sun shone outside and she was smiling and they were going to be okay_

 

and the birds sang a soft sweet tune.

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me how I did, I'd really appreciate it! Hoping to write more in the future! 8')


End file.
